Honda ATC 200x marathon trip -- 68 Miles yesterday -- What's okay to ride in a day?

[Trimoto Mike]

Hi All,

I just joined the group 6 or so weeks ago -- I had one trimoto YT0125, now I have six trikes -- including two 1983 200x, a 250es, and a few more yt-125's.

My question is, how much is too much in a single trip? I covered 68 miles yesterday on the 1983 200x. Just got it last Thursday -- I changed the oil and lubed the chain. It seemed to do well in the 95 degree heat -- a little rough in the middle of the power band, smoother up top. I reached 46 MPH, and cruised in 30 to 45 MPH range on the open road areas.

Thanks,
Mike

[keister]

Welcome :welcome:

If your gas tank is empty you went too far.

Did you do that on one tank of gas? I think your tank would be getting fairly low at 68 miles.

[Gabriel]

As a kid growing up I spent summers in Louisiana with the grandparents. There's a military base, Camp Livingston, that's open to the public. We would ride from sun up to sun down...stopping to refuel, eat lunch or take a dump. WAY over a hundred miles in a day. To a well taken care of Honda ATC....that ain't squat.

I grew up on an apple orchard and would ride laps around the outside perimeter of the orchard on an 84 ATC110. Never knew how far it was to make a lap but I have made continuous runs around and around for multiple refuels on a saturday. Never had an issue.


I'd say if you're worried enough about it to be concerned with maintenance you will never have a problem.

[Trimoto Mike]

Welcome :welcome:

If your gas tank is empty you went too far.

Did you do that on one tank of gas? I think your tank would be getting fairly low at 68 miles.

I maybe burned 1.5 gallons. BTW, I started putting 91 octane in - instead of regular 87 - not sure if it makes a difference, but figured it would run cooler with higher octane on these really hot days. Feels like the motor is vibrating more this morning.

[ps2fixer]

Distance doesn't matter much, biggest thing is engine temp, don't stop and let it run for an hour, or don't mud bug it for hours on end barely moving, or having the engine caked with mud/clay etc. As long as the engine is getting enough cooling, you should be able to run it continuously. I've gone all day on atvs till late at night with no problems at all, just had to keep moving.

Anyway as other's have said, keep up on the maintenance and they will last you a long time.

[Trimoto Mike]

Distance doesn't matter much, biggest thing is engine temp, don't stop and let it run for an hour, or don't mud bug it for hours on end barely moving, or having the engine caked with mud/clay etc. As long as the engine is getting enough cooling, you should be able to run it continuously. I've gone all day on atvs till late at night with no problems at all, just had to keep moving.

Anyway as other's have said, keep up on the maintenance and they will last you a long time.

Thanks for the advice. I just got back from the post office in Deer Trail -- about 15 miles round trip. I'm hitting 47 to 50 mph. If something gives it's going to hurt. What do I need to check? The chain, front forks -- one of the triple tree bolts got loose and fell out on the trip yesterday. Anything obvious I should keep an eye on?

Thanks.

[ps2fixer]

If you don't have them yet, grab the service manuals for your machines at the link below.

http://www.oscarmayer.net/atc/manuals/

For the ATC200X, it's page 20 for the maintenance schedule.

https://i.gyazo.com/49b27537bfde18468168d6c3a9a1f4ef.png

If you have bolts/nuts coming loose, then I'd scan over all the drive line parts and make sure none are loose, service manual will have the correct specs for the torque levels. Main things I'd look at is hub nuts, tire lug nuts, sprocket & disk brake bolts, caliper mounting bolts, triple tree bolts and nut that holds the bearings togethe, front wheel lug nuts and the front axle bolt, oh swing arm bolt too. While you're checking the machine over, check for sloppyness in the wheels, swing arm, rear axle, and steering stem. Bearings do go bad in time and most are probably OEM yet.

I'm not sure how high geared your machine is, but for long trips you'd want to keep the revs down a little, like you don't want to be red lining it everywhere you go. I'm not sure what the top speed is of the 200x, but I suspect it's around 55mph on flat road.

It's kind of hard to explain, but the engine should have a nice quick response when you goose the throttle while in neutral, if it's a little doggy/slow to rev you might want to pull the "CDI" cover off the head and check the spark advancer and springs. If it's rusted up, work it free and get it moving freely. If the springs are getting rusted, stretched, or broken, let me know and I have a listing for the right part number. You can still buy the whole assembly from Honda, but it's like $75.


Also, can you expand on the ruffness for the mid throttle? The carb might need some slight adjustments or cleaning to get running perfect depending how bad it is.

[350for350]

I had my 350X and my 250ES in Taylor Park back in June. We rode 65 miles on the first day. I could have/would have rode farther, but everyone else was ready to go back to camp. I guess it's really about how far you can go, not the machine. I plan to do it again next year too.

[ctk]

A group I ride with, regularly rides 65+ Miles a day

[Gabriel]

Can't tell me that at some point in history a Honda ATC hasn't attempted the Baja race. God knows everything else has tried it. I would say that tops a normal fella's day of riding any time. LOL!!!

[BOB MARLIN]

Run good oil that's designed for 4 stroke motorcycle engines and you shouldn't have anything to worry about. That engine isn't going to care if it's 60 miles or 6 miles.

[Jd110]

Most of the time, I’m by myself, so mileage is determined on how far I’d feel like walking—just in case.

[ps2fixer]

Can't tell me that at some point in history a Honda ATC hasn't attempted the Baja race. God knows everything else has tried it. I would say that tops a normal fella's day of riding any time. LOL!!!

I know a guy with a 350x that he takes Baja racing. I was helping him out with lighting/battery setup, he planned to make the package removable in like 20 secs so he can shed the weight for day time, and add it for night time. Also was researching other possible stator/flywheel combos to throw on the 350x engine to reduce the flywheel weight, didn't have any luck though w\o pretty major machining requirements.

There's been Baja races for atvs for quite some time, right after my dad bought his first Rincon in 2003 the Rincon won the Baja, of my understanding they took all the 4x4 parts out and ran it as a 2wd and it topped out at like 73mph. Not to bad for a shaft drive "Sport Utility", stock form I think they top out around 60mph. I can't remember the source, but I think it was in some magazine, pretty sure it was a stock vs stock race, like no rebuilding engines, turbos, aftermarket exhausts etc but they could remove unneeded parts (racks and such for the utility machines)

[350for350]

Can't tell me that at some point in history a Honda ATC hasn't attempted the Baja race. God knows everything else has tried it. I would say that tops a normal fella's day of riding any time. LOL!!!

I believe that's the way that the 250R was introduced.

[BOB MARLIN]

If you look at the home page of this very website you will see a whole article on the 1000 done on a 250r recently.

[ctk]

Most of the time, I’m by myself, so mileage is determined on how far I’d feel like walking—just in case.

I say this to myself when I ride alone. Lol

[tapper190]

I say this to myself when I ride alone. Lol

then you get to meet cool people like "icey Mike" when you get misdirected going out for a short ride, lol

[coolpool]

Like what was said before, maintenance, maintenance, and more maintenance; and be aware of your own limitations. Your machine was engineered for years of trouble free riding under normal conditions. In this thread two of us ran two 200's 280kms (173 miles) in one day with just one refuel. http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/135695-Awesome-Fall-Ride?highlight=iron+horse

[El Camexican]

Like what was said before, maintenance, maintenance, and more maintenance; and be aware of your own limitations. Your machine was engineered for years of trouble free riding under normal conditions. In this thread two of us ran two 200's 280kms (173 miles) in one day with just one refuel. http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/135695-Awesome-Fall-Ride?highlight=iron+horse

Exactly. My little YTM 200 will be my go to vehicle when the zombie apocalypse goes down. Gas and go.

[Jd110]

Exactly. My little YTM 200 will be my go to vehicle when the zombie apocalypse goes down. Gas and go.

When that happens I hope you’re already full, so you can just -Go. Could be part of the maintenance plan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[El Camexican]

When that happens I hope you’re already full, so you can just -Go. Could be part of the maintenance plan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good point, better fill up now, I think it’s getting close. :eek:

[ctk]

then you get to meet cool people like "icey Mike" when you get misdirected going out for a short ride, lol

LOL . That was a long “short” trip